Applications of directional ammunition discharged from a low velocity cannon

ABSTRACT

A method for destruction of hostile projectiles and a design of a low velocity cannon firing projectiles that contain directional ammunition. The method includes: firing from a low velocity cannon at least one projectile containing directional ammunition and detonating this directional ammunition at the optimal distance away from the target.

This patent application claims the benefit of provisional patentapplication 61/268,726 filed on Jun. 16, 2009.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to projectiles, specifically toprojectiles carrying directional ammunition, and to application of lowvelocity cannons. The present invention also relates to close-rangecounter-missile systems.

2. Prior Art

Numerous systems have been developed or under development for protectionof vehicles against hostile guided missiles. Many different naviespossess fairly efficient active counter missile systems that defeatincoming anti-ship missiles by a super-high rate of small to mediumcaliber fire in either a pure kinetic mode or with assistance of highexplosives. Unfortunately, this method is not applicable to defense ofaircraft due to excessive weight of modern automatic cannons andrelative instability of all modern aircraft, this instabilitycomplicating the targeting process. Most modern aircraft anti-missiledefense systems are passive in nature—they rely upon maneuvering of theaircraft and deployment of decoys. However, as anti-aircraft missilesare becoming smarter and more agile these defense strategies arebecoming obsolete.

A review of the existing counter missile systems clearly indicate thelack of any lightweight and cost effective active counter-missilesystems. The development of efficient counter missile systems isessential for protection of helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, andfixed wing aircraft operating against a sophisticated enemy air defensesystem. To a lesser degree even ground based combat vehicle rely uponpassive measures like armor and decoys to defeat anti-tank missiles. Alow cost, efficient active anti-missile system is still needed on themodern battlefield.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the present invention is to provide a novel closerange/extreme close range lightweight weapons system capable to destroyenemy personnel and incoming hostile projectiles. The integral part ofthis weapons system is a low velocity cannon discharging directionalprojectiles. In this patent application a “low velocity cannon” is aprojectile discharging cannon operating at barrel pressuressignificantly lower than barrel pressure of a standard firearm. Thenovel methods incorporated into this design are simple and effectivemeans to detonate directional projectiles at the correct distance awayfrom the target thus taking full advantage of the directional ammunitionstored inside each directional projectile. A number of methods tomaintain correct orientation of the projectiles, i.e. business endtowards enemy, are also discussed later in this patent application. Arelatively big kill-zone generated by detonation of directionalammunition eliminates the need for precise targeting. Also, applicationof directional ammunition allows safe usage of this weapons system atclose distance to the target, since all of the shrapnel travels onlytowards the target.

This weapons system will be particularly useful under all circumstanceswhere each ounce of extra weight has critical importance. An example ofsuch circumstances would be deployment of this weapon system onboard anaircraft that require protection from incoming hostile projectiles, mostlikely air or ground launched anti-aircraft missiles. This aircraft canbe a fixed wing jet, a helicopter, or an unmanned aerial vehicle. Anunmanned aerial vehicle equipped with an efficient counter-missileweapons system can be effectively used in air combat against enemyaircraft.

Another advantage of this weapon system is its expected low cost. Thesystem consists of readily available components that already exist inthe market place and can be easily put together to make a reliableweapons system. Last but not least, this weapons system can be easilycustomized to effectively counter a given specific threat. Thecomponents comprising this weapons system can be easily replaced tomodify weapons parameters. For instance fire-control electronics can beconnected to the target tracker of the user's choice. By the same token,the same fire control electronics can be easily used on any low-velocitycannon, provided the user updates the new cannon's parameters stored inthe memory of the fire-control electronics.

The basic components comprising this weapons system are the following:directional ammunition, lightweight projectiles which act as carriersfor directional ammunition, low velocity cannon, at least one deviceinsuring detonation of directional ammunition at the right distance awayeither from the target or from the cannon, target tracker and/ordistance measurement device, a fire-control electronic circuit eitherpre-setting weapons system parameters prior to projectile firing orissuing “detonate ammunition” command after the projectile has beenfired.

Directional ammunition is readily available and its design parametersare already well known. Two examples of directional ammunition aredirectional claymore mines and case/canister shots. A case/canister shotis in essence a single shot shotgun firing pellets forward. Both ofthese types of ammunition can be easily designed to generate a stream ofpellets of required shape. For case/canister shot the shape of thecanister defines the dispersion pattern of shrapnel; for claymore minethe dispersion pattern is defined by the curvature of the shape of themine.

The projectiles themselves are just lightweight shells housingdirectional ammunition, detonators, and devices required for detonationof the enclosed ammunition at the right moment. The projectiles mightcontain internal holding brackets required to secure the above-mentionedcomponents in place. The projectiles need to show acceptable stabilityin fight therefore they need to be properly shaped and weight balanced.A spherical shape can be used or fins and winglets can be attached tothe exterior of projectiles to guarantee acceptable stability in flight.A projectile carrying directional ammunition needs to be properlyoriented “face towards enemy” at the moment of detonation. Anaerodynamically correct projectile shape can be used to ensure that theprojectile will not tumble in flight and will face the enemy missilewith its business end. An alternative method is to use a sphericalprojectile connected to the cannon with a section of wire of correctlength: tension pull of this stretched wire will correctly orient theprojectile at the last moment before detonation. Other methods todetonate projectiles are discussed in the “detailed description” sectionof the current specification. These projectiles can be discharged fromboth smoothbore and rifled firing tubes.

The projectiles storing directional ammunition are discharged from a lowvelocity cannon operating at internal pressure levels significantlylower than pressure levels imposed on projectiles inside conventionalfirearms. In order to be able to withstand high levels of pressurefirearm projectiles, barrels, and other components are made from strongand heavy materials. Unfortunately, this requires increased weight ofthe entire weapons system. The advantage of the proposed weapons systemis its lightness: a discharged projectile does not need to have enoughkinetic energy to destroy the target. Once the projectile has beendelivered close enough to the target the shrapnel will receive itskinetic energy from the explosion inside the projectile. Numerous typesof low velocity cannons are available for the user of this system: arecoilless rifle or a rocket assisted grenade launcher can easily beused along with one of many spud gun designs currently popular withhobbyists.

Once the distance to the target has been correctly estimated theprojectile has to either be pre-programmed to explode at a certainmoment after firing or it has to be detonated after firing via anexternal command. It will be up to the user to select the mostappropriate method of projectile detonation out of all methods presentedin this patent application. The preferred method may be detonating theprojectile through tension force of a wire connecting the projectileitself to the cannon. Another advantage of this method is that theprojectile gets correctly oriented in space prior to detonation by thesame tension force.

Multitude of various radar-, laser-, and infrared sensor based distanceestimators and trackers are available for any potential user. If thisweapons system is used on any combat platform, it can be easilyintegrated with the combat platform's distance estimators/targettrackers and the on-board computer. For a stand alone weapons system aseparate distance estimator/target tracker is required. Once informationon distance to target becomes available, a simple electronic circuitwill be required to track this parameter (and possibly other parameters)and fire the cannon once the target gets in range. The user can alsochoose to control this weapons system via a digital computer runningsoftware of any level of complexity.

An array of low velocity cannons connected to target tracker(s) andcontrolled electronically can be used for protection of aircraft, groundvehicles, and fixed installations from hostile projectiles.

A novel part of this weapons system is also suggested methods to aim ata low-velocity cannon at a fast moving target. Aiming of a fixed cannoncan be achieved by maneuvering a craft that carries this weapons system.A slow moving craft can also be protected by placing arrays of firingtubes around the craft and firing only one of these arrays closest tothe target. This patent application also sugstem with existingcomponents onboard modern fighting vehicles.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

This invention is further described in the following drawings:

Drawing 1—an engagement of a hostile missile where 1 is the friendlyaircraft, 2 is the low-velocity cannon mounted on a friendly aircraft, 3is the wire connecting the counter-missile projectile to the aircraft, 4is the projectile discharged from the low-velocity cannon, 5 is the killzone saturated with shrapnel, 6 is the hostile missile, said hostilemissile positioned within the kill zone,

Drawing 2—illustrates that a low-velocity cannon having 2 divergingbarrels creates a combined kill zone Dtotal much greater in size than akill zone d1 created by a single directional projectile.

Drawing 3—two examples of projectiles carrying directional ammunitionwhere 1 is the wire connecting the cannon to the safety pin, 2 is thedroplet shaped projectile with winglets, 3 is the safety pin, 4 is thedetonator attached to the canister shot, 5 is the explosives inside thecanister shot, 6 is the shrapnel compartment of the canister shot, 7 isthe wire connecting the cannon to the safety pin inside a sphericalprojectile, 8 is the safety pin, 9 is the detonator of the directionalclaymore mine, 10 is the directional claymore mine stored inside thespherical projectile, 11 are two kill zones generated by either type ofdirectional ammunition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Let me examine a couple of applications of a given weapons system. Oneof such applications would be destruction of a fast movingprojectile/missile closing in on a friendly aircraft equipped with thisweapons system. One of the novel ideas behind this weapons system is totake a relatively inaccurate weapon discharging slow movingcounter-projectiles and destroy a fast moving target, preferably withone shot.

Since most anti-aircraft missiles are equipped with remote fuses themost important parameter to consider is the range of the missile'swarhead. It is possible for the missile's fuse to be triggered by theexplosion of the counter-projectile. Therefore the missile needs to beintercepted at the minimum distance “D-minimum” where its explosion isharmless to the aircraft. Of course, the missile can be intercepted atgreater distances as well. This parameter “D-minimum” will definecharacteristics of the cannon—at all altitudes where the threat islikely to be faced by the aircraft the cannon should be able to delivera projectile close to the incoming missile along predictable trajectorywithin a reasonable amount of time. The altitude of engagement isimportant, since thinner air will offer less resistance to a relativelylarge projectile. Although a low velocity cannon will not be able todischarge a projectile at a high speed, the effective speed of theprojectile will be the sum of its speed and the speed of the aircrafttrying to move away from the incoming missile, assuming the backhemisphere of the aircraft will be under attack. The first parameterthat the users of this method have to consider is the maximum desirabledistance, which may be greater than “D-minimum”, of missile interceptfor a given velocity of the aircraft.

Once this parameter has been finalized, an appropriate cannon can beselected. Obviously, the lightest possible cannon will be chosen for thejob. A recoilless rifle or rocket propelled grenade launcher on board anaircraft will be undesirable due to generated flame/back blast. Modernday spud gunners use variety of low velocity cannons using eithercombustion of gaseous fuel or compressed gas pressure to propelprojectiles. A cannon operated by compressed gas pressure seems the mostdesirable element of this weapons system for the following reason: (a)safety, since there will be no gaseous fuel on board the aircraft; (b)power, since compressed gas cannons generate more power than combustionbased low velocity cannons. Compressed gas low velocity cannon offersanother advantage—the power of the discharge blast can be easilyregulated via controlling pressure inside the firing chamber via remotecontrol valves. Also, an electronically controlled valve connecting thefiring chamber to the firing tube may allow multiple shots fired fromthe same cannon without re-pressurizing the firing chamber. In otherwords, a longer burst from a lower pressure chamber can be used asopposed to a short burst of compressed gas from a high pressure chamber.Alternatively, multiple pressure chambers can be connected to one firingtube/projectile storage clip assembly. This arrangement will allow rapidfiring of multiple projectiles from the same firing tube. After everyshot a new projectile will be loaded into the firing tube and a newfully pressurized chamber will be selected for the next discharge. Thechamber just used will be quickly re-pressurized while other chambersare being used for firing projectiles. There is another point that theuser of this weapons system may find useful: the aircraft carrying thisweapons system may already have a tank of pressurized gas to power itsown pneumatic devices. If so, the cannon can be integrated into thepneumatic system of the aircraft saving the effort of attaching an extratank of compressed gas to the cannon.

Modern day compressed gas cannons routinely hurl projectiles forhundreds of yards within seconds. This distance combined with thedistance traveled by even a slow moving UAV or helicopter should besufficient to intercept any incoming missile at the safe distance“D-minimum” or even at much greater distances. The firing tube of acompressed gas cannon can be made either out of plastic or thin metalthus making the cannon itself very light. The first design conflict thatthe user has to resolve is the one between the power of the cannon andthe weight and size of the cannon and projectiles. The size of thecannon is very important since the length of the firing tube is directlyproportional to the initial velocity of a discharged projectile andtherefore to the effective range of the cannon.

According to this method the pilot of the protected aircraft shouldbecome an integral part of the cannon targeting. In other words once theincoming missile has been detected the pilot has to perform a maneuverthat will ideally make both the aircraft and the missile move in oneline. Ideally, at the end of this maneuver the cannon affixed to theaircraft should be pointed directly at the incoming missile. The pilot'stask should be made easier by the fact that most self-guiding missilesare designed to approach the aircraft along the shortest trajectory. Aspecial display may show the pilot the relative positions of theaircraft and the missile in real time, thus helping the pilot to gaugethe progress of the maneuver. This approach appears counter-intuitivesince nowadays pilots are trained to perform evasive maneuvers once ahostile missile has been detected. However, an airplane equipped withcounter-missile cannon just needs to lure the incoming missile in thecannon's range for missile's destruction.

Once the maneuver has been completed the cannon will fire at least oneprojectile at the missile. Once the projectile reaches a pre-determinedpoint directional ammunition on board the projectile will detonatecreating an approximately conical kill zone with its base turned towardsthe incoming missile. The kill zone effectiveness is defined by 2parameters: size and saturation with shrapnel. The size of the kill zoneis also defined by 2 parameters: the area of the base of the conicalkill (“lateral” dimension of the kill zone) zone and the length of theconical kill zone (“longitudinal” dimension of the kill zone). Thedesigned “lateral” dimension of the kill zone should be defined by theaccuracy of the cannon—i.e. the incoming missile has to be inside thekill zone for the worst probable accuracy of the cannon. Assuming cannoncharacteristics are known, the most important factors affecting accuracyare stability of the airplane during cannon firing and the type ofmaneuver being performed by the aircraft during cannon firing. The typeof maneuver executed by the pilot will be defined partially by thedirection from which the threat is coming. For instance, if a low flyingaircraft comes under attack from ground launched missile the pilot maynot have enough time to complete all necessary maneuvering that willbring the aircraft in line with the missile's trajectory. Under thesecircumstances the user may require a weapons system that will be able todestroy the incoming missile while the aircraft is performing a 3Dmovement relative to the incoming missile. Obviously, the movement ofthe aircraft will affect the initial velocity of the dischargedprojectile and therefore the accuracy and aerodynamic characteristics ofthis weapons system. It is up to the user to calculate inaccuracy of thecannon for all likely engagements and compensate for this inaccuracywith the size of the kill zone.

The shape of directional ammunition generally defines the “lateral”dimension of the generated kill zone. Case/canister shots anddirectional claymore mines have been around for a long time and itshould be trivial to design a piece of ammunition that will generatelateral dispersion of shrapnel within required conical shape. However,there may be a conflict between the size of ammunition required togenerate a kill zone of required size and the caliber of the lowvelocity cannon. Also, a bigger projectile will have to overcome greaterresistance of air and may be moving too slow for the given power of thecannon. The following methods are suggested to help user generate arequired kill zone with relatively small projectiles: (a) a cannon ableto fire multiple projectiles in rapid succession from the same firingtube; (b) a cannon firing multiple projectiles from the same firing tubewith one shot; (c) several projectiles fired from different firing tubesat the same time; (d) a combination of the above-mentioned methods.

A cannon firing multiple projectiles should be easy to build. As long asfiring tube/projectile clip assembly is airtight the clip can beseparated from the firing tube with partially closed spring-loadedplates. After every shot either electrical solenoids or pneumatic devicewill retract the plates and a new projectile will be pushed into thefiring tube by the clip spring. The whole firing tube assembly can bemade as one airtight piece and the projectiles will be loaded into theclip on the ground.

A sabot full of smaller projectiles can be loaded into the firing tube.Upon firing the projectiles will start diverging in flight and afterdetonation a cluster of possibly overlapping kill zones will begenerated.

A better dispersion can be achieved by an array of firing tubes. Theangle between longitudinal axes of the firing tubes, the number andpositioning of the tubes, and the design of each individual projectilewill define the size of total kill zone. The whole assembly may bepowered by one pressure chamber connected to all firing tubes at thesame time.

Firing tubes can be located further apart from each other. If eachfiring tube will be aimed at the target and all firing tubes are used atthe same time the target will likely end up in the area where individualkill zones overlap. If not, the target is likely to end up in a singlenon-overlapping kill zone. All of these methods can be combined togetherany way the user desires—for instance, the clip attached to the firingtube may be loaded with sabots full of projectiles as opposed toprojectiles themselves. Last but not least—the user may choose to loadsingle counter-missile projectile with more than one piece ofdirectional ammunition, said pieces being positioned at an angle to eachother and projecting multiple kill zones from one projectile. Avariation of this approach will be using a cluster projectile containingsmaller projectiles, each smaller projectile firing its owndirectional/omni-directional ammunition once appropriate projectiledispersion has been achieved.

The longitudinal dimension of the kill zone is defined by the power ofexplosives of directional ammunition. Effective longitudinal dimensionof the kill zone is the area of the kill zone where shrapnel elementsstay close enough together to guarantee a hit of the incoming missilethat enters the kill zone. Just like the cannon has to be powerfulenough to intercept a missile at the farthest probable distance, thekill zone has to be saturated with shrapnel well enough to destroy thesmallest probable threat. The task of missile destruction is facilitatedby the forward motion of the missile thus magnifying the velocity of theimpact between the missile and a piece of shrapnel. Shrapnel elementsmade out of lightweight plastic should be sufficient for this task thusmaking the ammunition relatively light. Also, shrapnel can be loadedinto the ammunition in multiple layers to ensure a rough checkerboardpattern of the kill zone. One more point—if the counter missileprojectile is detonated off-center of the incoming missile then thewhole side of the missile becomes vulnerable to the shrapnel.

Once the size of the kill zone has been established counter-missileprojectile(s) needs to be detonated at the right moment after havingbeen fired from the low-velocity cannon. Obviously, at the moment of theprojectile's detonation the missile has to be close enough to theprojectile to end up in the effective kill zone. A couple of approachescan be used to achieve this task. All possible methods can be generallybroken into 2 categories: the projectile can be detonated via anexternal command or the projectile's detonation parameters can be setprior to firing of the projectile. There is another method to achievecorrect detonation—making the projectiles themselves “smart” and puttingall necessary target trackers and electronic decision makers onboardeach projectile. However, this method does not seem cost effective sinceall smart gear will be lost after explosion of each projectile.

Detonating the counter-missile projectile via an external command mayoffer better accuracy but will probably be more complicated and moreexpensive. Both the incoming missile and the counter-missile projectileneed to be tracked and the “detonate” command needs to be generated by adedicated electronic circuit or by a digital computer running softwaredesigned for this task. If a wireless method to transfer “detonate”command is chosen, the projectile will have to carry at least onecommand detector and extra hardware to convert the command into anactual explosion. A better way to detonate a projectile via an externalcommand will probably be sending an electric pulse to the projectile viaa trailing wire. The task of tracking the projectile may be facilitatedby placing a beacon on board the projectile.

At this point it would be appropriate to mention another technicalproblem: at the moment of detonation the projectile carrying directionalammunition needs to be turned to the incoming missile with its businessend. Assuming the counter-missile projectile is fired from a smoothborefiring tube, the task of keeping the projectile correctly oriented canbe solved by giving the projectile an appropriate aerodynamic shape andattaching to the projectile winglets, fins, or other devices ensuringprojectile's stability in flight. Spin stabilized projectiles can beused as well, however light plastic is unlikely to survive the pressuresgenerated by the spinning motion of the projectile inside the firingtube. This problem can be fixed by enclosing the projectile into a metaljacket and inserting a metal liner inside the firing tube. This designchange will increase the weight of the weapons system and willeffectively decrease the power of the discharge since the projectilewill have to overcome much higher friction forces while traveling insidethe firing tube.

Assuming the incoming missile is moving at a steady speed along wellpredicted trajectory and assuming consistent performance of this weaponssystem, the projectile can be pre-set to explode at a certain distanceaway from the aircraft or after a certain period of time following theprojectile's discharge from the firing tube. The easiest to builddetonation system is a spherical projectile connected to the cannon witha lightweight wire. The wire can be wound on a spool to prevent wrappingof loose wire around the projectile in flight—the length of loose wirefollowing the projectile will be equal to the distance from theprojectile to the cannon. The length of the wire will be the distanceaway from the aircraft at which the wire becomes stretched. The tensionforce of stretched wire will correctly orient the projectile (which canbe made spherical in shape) and will initiate a train if events leadingto the projectile's detonation, like pulling out a safety pin. Thelength of the wire may have to be adjusted for the speed of the aircraftand the incoming missile to ensure that at the moment of detonation theprojectile is located at a pre-determined distance away from theaircraft and at the optimal distance away from the incoming missile. Acombination of 2 spinning spools, spool stoppers, and remotelycontrolled motors can easily make the length of the wire that can bestretched easily adjustable in either way, i.e. longer or shorter. Ifthe length of the wire needs to be adjusted only in one direction, asingle motor driven spool will suffice. The advantages of such anarrangement are the following: high reliability (since the detonationsystem is purely mechanical), low cost, ease of implementation. Lightnylon threads or other lightweight material can be used to make the wireconnecting each projectile to the cannon. If the cannon is designed tofire multiple projectiles attached to the firing tube via a clip, everyprojectile needs to either be connected to a separate spool arrangementor an extra mechanical device is required to connect every newprojectile to the single wire/spool combination. The wire detonationsystem can be simplified if the length of the wire is fixed. Thedrawback of this arrangement is that if the first missile interceptfails, there will be no way to reprogram the next projectile andintercept the missile closer to the aircraft.

Alternatively, each projectile can be detonated by a command from anon-board timer. Once a projectile is loaded into the cannon it will beconnected to the aircraft with a short stretch of conducting wire. Thiswire will be used to program the timer on board the projectile prior tofiring. Once the projectile leaves the barrel the tension force of thiswire will activate the timer and the projectile will be detonated whenthe pre-defined time period expires. The same stretch of conducting wirecan also be used to recharge projectile's battery needed to set off anelectric blasting cap.

The decision to fire a counter-missile projectile can be made either bythe pilot of the aircraft, an autonomous electronic circuit, or acombination of both. A display showing the position of the incomingmissile relative to the aircraft can also show in real time locations ofthe kill zone(s). Once the incoming missile gets close enough to thecannon's range the pilot can activate an electronic firing circuit thatwill fire the cannon. If the missile has been detected while outside thecannon's range, and if a targeting maneuver has been successfullycompleted by the pilot the electronic circuit should make relativelysimple calculations to decide when to discharge a counter-missileprojectile. Assuming both the missile and the aircraft move at aconstant speed along the same flat straight trajectory, the physics ofthe problem becomes trivial. The aircraft can be considered to berelatively motionless in the coordinate system centered around theaircraft itself. In this coordinate system the missile will beapproaching the aircraft along a straight line, the missile's relativevelocity equal to its real velocity minus the real velocity of theaircraft. The electronic firing circuit should have access to thecannon's parameters and it should know how much time it takes acounter-missile projectile to reach the cannon's maximum range. Sincethe incoming missile's position and velocity are consistently beingtracked, the time of the cannon's firing becomes the time it takes themissile to enter the cannon's range, counting from now, minus the timeit takes a counter-missile projectile to reach the maximum range.

Granted, the calculations will be more complicated if the missile andthe aircraft are involves in maneuvering relative to the ground andrelative to each other. For instance, if the angle of attack of theaircraft is not zero, the relative wind will affect the trajectory of afired slow-moving projectile. The cannon firing circuit, therefore, hasto have access to all aircraft parameters, missile tracker, and valvesconnecting the firing tube to pressure chambers, if a compressed gascannon is used. However, these calculations should be easy to accomplishprovided all necessary information is available to correctly model thephysics of the engagement. Once the first projectile or a batch ofprojectiles has been fired at the missile, an assumption has to be madethat follow up shots may be required. For a counter-projectile detonatedby a wire it means that the length of the wire for the next availableprojectile needs to be consistently adjusted under an assumption thatthe missile has not been defeated yet. This continuous adjustment willminimize the time required to perform the second shot from the cannon.Ideally, the missile will have to be engaged at a maximum possibledistance to allow follow up shots from the cannon or an arrangement ofcannons. Instead of mounting a separate tracking device on the cannon,this weapons system can be integrated with the aircraft avionics and usethe aircraft radar to track the incoming missile or, if needed,discharged counter-missile projectiles.

Although the targeting of the cannon is mainly performed by the pilot ofthe aircraft the user may find it useful to mount the cannon on atargeting platform. Such a platform may be able to adjust the cannon'selevation only. Also, the targeting platform may be able to move thecannon only in pre-set positions as opposed to allowing the usercontinuous movement. An advantage of such an arrangement is that thesame cannon can be rapidly moved to a new position and defeat a threatcoming from a totally different direction. For instance, a helicopterpilot flying his craft close to the ground may choose to make the cannonpoint downwards to be ready for an RPG attack coming from the ground. Atargeting platform capable of continuous adjustment of the cannon'sposition can also be used for fine tuning of the targeting process.

A low velocity cannon discharging directional ammunition can be used onthe ground as well. The same methods to ensure proper detonation ofprojectiles can be used for all ground applications. Arrays of divergingshort firing tubes, similar to smoke grenade launchers can be positionedaround an armored vehicle for defense against anti-tank projectiles.Alternatively, existing smoke grenade launchers can be easily modifiedfor firing directional ammunition projectiles as opposed to smokegrenades For simplicity sake this system can be designed to interceptincoming projectiles at fixed distance away from the vehicle. This willmean that each firing tube will be loaded by a projectile connected tothe vehicle with a wire of fixed length. Once a hostile projectile hasbeen detected one of the arrays of firing tubes will be fired and themissile will be intercepted at the distance equal to the length of thewire connecting projectiles to the vehicle. Diverging firing tubes willcreate excellent dispersion of the projectiles. Since most modernarmored vehicles carry sophisticated sensors, application of directionalammunition will ensure that the vehicle's equipment or friendly troopswill not be damaged by “friendly fire.” Obviously, the user can chooseomni-directional ammunition as well. If compressed gas discharge systemis selected, all arrays of firing tubes can be integrated with thevehicle's pneumatic system, just like it was suggested for applicationonboard an aircraft. Incoming missile detection can be easily achievedby attaching at least one heat sensor to every array of firing tubes—theheat sensor collecting most IR radiation will be the heat sensor closestto the incoming missile and associated low velocity cannon(s) will befired once the missile gets close enough to the vehicle. Rangeestimation based on the heat signature of an incoming missile/rocketpropelled grenade should be trivial to achieve.

Low velocity cannons can also be used for defense of any fixedinstallation. The overall lightweight of these cannons makes them easyto move and aim. If mounted on targeting platforms and if connected to atank of compressed air with flexible conduits, the firing tubes can beaimed by relatively low-power motors within fractions of a second. Ofcourse, the cannons need to be integrated with hostile projectiledetectors and necessary electronic estimators/fire controllers.

1. A method for protecting a second location from a first projectilefired from a first location at the second location, the methodcomprising: (a) firing at least one second projectile towards the firstprojectile from a low velocity cannon, said low velocity cannondischarging projectiles at a velocity substantially lower than avelocity of a projectile being discharged from a firearm of a similarcaliber; (b) detonating at least one piece of directional ammunitionenclosed within said second projectile; (c) destroying or damaging thefirst projectile with shrapnel pieces generated after detonation of saidat least one piece of directional ammunition.
 2. The method of claim 1,further comprising tracking the first projectile.
 3. The method of claim1, wherein a plurality of second projectiles being fired at the firstprojectile.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said second location beingdefined as an airborne vehicle carrying at least one low velocitycannon, the method further comprising performing at least one maneuverby said airborne vehicle carrying at least one low velocity cannon, thepurpose of said maneuver being to aim said at least one low velocitycannon at said first projectile.
 5. The method of claim 4, furthercomprising detonating said at least one piece of directional ammunitionvia tension force of at least one piece of wire, said at least one pieceof wire connecting said at least one second projectile either to saidlow velocity cannon or to said airborne vehicle.
 6. A counter-projectileweapons system comprising: (a) a low velocity cannon, said low velocitycannon comprising at least one firing tube, said at least one firingtube being substantially lighter than a firing tube of a firearm of asimilar caliber; (b) at least one projectile being able to be dischargedfrom said low velocity cannon, said at least one projectile containingat least one piece of directional ammunition; (c) at least one detonatorincorporated into said at least one piece of directional ammunition; (d)a signal receiver incorporated into said at least one projectile, saidsignal receiver being able to initiate detonation of said at least onepiece of directional ammunition after receiving an appropriate signal.7. The counter-projectile weapons system of claim 6, further comprising:(a) a tracker being able to track an incoming projectile; (b) an arrayof electronic circuits being able to receive data from said tracker andbeing able to automatically fire said low velocity cannon.
 8. Thecounter-projectile weapons system of claim 6, wherein said detonatorbeing connected to either said low velocity cannon or any otherstructure with at least one piece of wire, the tension force of said atleast one piece of wire acting as said appropriate signal when said atleast one piece of wire becomes fully stretched.
 9. Thecounter-projectile weapons system of claim 8, further comprising amechanism controlling the length of said at least one piece of wire. 10.A method for protecting a ground combat vehicle from a hostile missile,the method comprising:(a) detecting and tracking said incoming hostilemissile; (b) firing at least one projectile from at least one smokegrenade launcher, said at least one smoke grenade launcher being mountedon said ground combat vehicle; (c) detonating at least one piece ofdirectional ammunition enclosed within said at least one projectile; (d)destroying or damaging said hostile missile via action of shrapnel beingdischarged by said at least one piece of directional ammunition.
 11. Themethod of claim 10, wherein said at least one piece of directionalammunition being detonated via tension force of at least one piece ofwire, said at least one piece of wire connecting said projectile eitherto said at least one smoke grenade launcher or to said ground combatvehicle
 12. The method of claim 10, further comprising detecting saidhostile missile via an array of heat sensors, each of said heat sensorsbeing located closer to a separate said smoke grenade launcher than toany other smoke grenade launcher mounted on said ground combat vehicle.